TITAN AE III The Legacy
by Tacochocopacokako
Summary: The start of part III is up. Don't hold your breath for updates...
1. Chapter 1 Quiet

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TITAN

AE

III

The Legacy

Chapter 1 - 

- 3054A.D.

It was night on New Earth. Not a solitary soul was about the vast landscape. The sky shook with rumblings of thunder. Rain poured out of the sky like a faucet and it saturated the fresh ground with green life. Trees and plants grew out of the ground about the place. Their leaves and branches swayed in the darkness as water dripped down their sides. The heavens were as a sea of black, dark and heavy with precipitation. The Phoenix sat high on the same green hill. Over the years, it had accumulated rust here and there as it wasn't flown too much any more for the people known as the Tuckers were still living in it.

"It's really pourin' out there." Cale said as he sat next to the window. He had Akima in his lap and she was cuddling in his arms. They hadn't changed much: Cale was getting darker, almost brown hair, and had more definition in his arms. Akima was still youthful with a young face and a slender body. She had decided to let her purple bangs grow even longer until they reached a quarter length of her chest.

"I wonder what the kids are up to." Akima stated as she rested her head on Cale's shoulder. He leaned forward and began caressing her arm while resting his face close to hers.

"Ah, they're probably just bored. They don't care about what we missed." Cale whispered. He began to lightly kiss her face and she gave a grin. "They take rain for granted." he added.

Just then, Ruth came down the ladder that came from the cockpit. She was starting to look more and more like her mother every day. She had long, black braided hair and purple bangs emulating Akima's. She was about ten years of age. "Mommy, Joey called me a 'Drej' again!" her high voice wined.

Joseph followed down the gangway and took a hop to the floor at the bottom. He had some resemblance to Cale, mainly his chin. He had short, brown hair and was a little eight year old. "That's because she is one!" he argued.

"I am not!" Ruth stopped and yelled at her brother.

"Are too!" Joseph stood in front of her and reiterated his statement.

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Hold it!" Akima intervened. She sat up on Cale's lap and glared at the two. "Not too long ago, Joseph came down here and said you called him a 'Soil-sucker'." she lectured with a motherly tone.

"That's 'cause she started it!" Joseph argued.

"Did not!" Ruth returned.

"Did too!" Joseph disputed.

"Okay, that's enough!" Cale said, getting a little annoyed, "I don't want any name-calling from either of you. You're acting like four year-olds." At that, the two had downcast faces. They both looked at each other and back at their parents.

"Why don't you two come up here and sit with your dad and I?" Akima suggested. The children jumped up onto the window seat in front of Akima and sat down. They each appeared indifferent to watching the rain.

"You know, your mom and I didn't see rain when we were your age." Cale began.

"Really?" Joseph asked.

"Yeah, I had no clue what rain looked like." Akima added.

"That's why your mom and I care so much about little things like these; we don't take rain for granted because you never know when it might be taken away." Cale explained. The two children looked out the window and tried to imagine what it would be like without a world, let alone rain.

But in a separate part of the world, not too far, some evil had landed on the planet. The Valkyrie sat there in ruins. It had crashed on the earth by the EMP wave and had since then become a landmark. Only the anterior half of the ship remained for, in the crash, the engines exploded. The only things left of them were a few of the pieces which were severely large. One of the parts even jutted out of the ocean and a small coral reef grew around it. The anterior half had the cockpit diagonally protruding out of the ocean of which there was beach nearby. Mossy patches of green began to grow on the relic as it remained untouched for nearly ten years.

A large character approached the massive structure from the mainland. He was quite a sphinx because of his apparel. He was about seven feet tall, but was about four feet wide. The aspect that made him seem large were the silver shoulders that shone in the night. On top of the shoulders was a stone mask of a creature with black, large, marble-like eyes and a long snout. Out of the sides of his mask there was a helmet that had two thick, blunt horns that curved downward. Off of his shoulder grieves was a black cape that hid most of his body structure with the exception of his feet. He stopped in front of the Valkyrie and peered over it for a while.

"What happened to you?" a deep voice echoed from within the mask. He crept closer to the landmark taking in the view of its destruction. His cold, expressionless face took in the awe of its mystery. The sound of the waves crashed in the black of the moonless night. "Korso must have run into some trouble."

"If you came looking for Korso, he's not here!" a woman's voice sternly warned. The character turned to find a woman dressed in a cloak standing about fifty feet behind him. She was young and had long, brown hair. Her cloak was completely brown and had some gold clasps that connected the two sides around her neck. She had stern eyes and a strong chin; she was exceptionally beautiful in a tough-girl sort of way.

"Ah, Zerah, I knew you might be creeping about." The silver figure replied. When he spoke, nothing about him moved. The face didn't budge, but the voice sounded as one speaking into a trash can. The reverberation went all throughout his armor. 

Zerah stared over the statuary person that stood before her. She did not know the identity of the man, but the two were long-lasting enemies. "You don't belong here." she warned. She had a displeased appearance on her face and her sapphire eyes narrowed. 

"Neither do you," the man replied. He turned to the ship again and looked over it from inside his metal shell. He could be heard exhaling from within his mask. "It's more familiar to me than it is to you." he argued. Zerah took a step forward, ready to harry him with attacks, but she held back. 

"Get away from that!" she reiterated. 

"You honestly don't know the forces you're dealing with, do you?" the silver statue-like man said.

"I've been training. I'm ready for you, Macabre!" Zerah expounded, showing the tip of a curved sword out from behind her cloak. Macabre turned to her again.

"Must I defeat you time and time again? When will your fervor be extinguished?" the deep voice asked. Zerah froze for he was right: she had never defeated him before, but tonight, she felt differently.

"I believe I could be the victor. I'm ready, Macabre!" she said. Macabre stood still, as if he were thinking to himself for a while. Then, this motionless being raised one fist out of his cape.

"If you are prepared to slay me," he began. Suddenly, his cape flew upward and shortly revealed his chest, arms, and legs armored in gold. He tore an Egyptian khopis, a sword with a sickle-shaped blade that bent forward directly after the haft, from his belt. The back end of the sword had ridges on it and was darker than the sharp half. "then give me your best." he said as the cape fell around him again. His hand and the khopis protruded out from his cape.

Zerah grabbed the metal clasps on her neck and tore them off. With one swift movement, she threw the brown coat sharply aside. Now she wore a tight, red, leather outfit that didn't have sleeves and black legs. On her arms she wore red, leather gloves and boots that came slightly over her elbows and knees. There was a circular opening on the top of the chest of the suit that showed the swell of her overly-full bosoms.

Zerah held a Greek falchion, a sword whose back curved forward, came to a sharp point, and had a convex cutting edge in an ambiguous S-like fashion until it reached the haft of the blade. She held it forward with her right hand as she stood in an offensive position. "Let's do this!" she said.

Zerah leaped forward and brought her sword down upon Macabre. He blocked it by simply swinging perpendicular to hers. The blow from his swing sent her back. Zerah's falchion shivered in her hand from the block. She regained her composure and landed on her feet. Zerah stood in repose, ready to leap back at him with more fury. "So, I can't take you by force!" she said as she looked him over.

With that, Zerah took another leap at him, holding her falchoin above her head. The two swords clashed in a ringing fury. Zerah took quicker swings at his sides, but he was too skilled in fencing. It was as if Macabre's massive figure stood still. Only his arms moved out from his long, encompassing cape.

Just then, it seemed as if Macabre took the offensive. He began walking toward her, swinging from left to right and right to left. Zerah did her best to parry each blow with an inverse vertical swing. The metal flew with blinding speed. It flashed in the night as it reflected various stars in the sky.

Zerah became more and more uncomfortable as Macabre pushed her back with his thick sword. She gnashed her teeth as she tried to keep from being killed. In a last-ditch effort, Zerah performed a complete spin as she lashed out her falchion followed by a heel-kick straight to his chest. Macabre intercepted her foot with his hand and threw it upward. This caused Zerah to do a back flip before him. He sent his sickle-sword forward, hoping to spear her in the chest when a clang could be heard. Zerah had swatted it off while she landed. "Not so fast." she taunted.

Once again, she took the offensive, having several ax-like hacks at him and a couple of jabs. Macabre swung at her head and she quickly ducked. The khopis swooshed over her head and she came back up after it'd passed. He gave her a single, potent kick, straight to the stomach which sent her speedily back until she landed on her chest. Zerah let out a grunt when she hit the dirt. She realized that her falchion was no longer in her hand, but was about twenty feet away. Macabre walked forward with his blade whetted for Zerah's blood. She put one arm underneath and hastily pushed herself off of the ground while reaching for a plasma pistol in her belt with the other. No later than when she grabbed it, she shot straight for Macabre's anomaly of a head. He quickly batted it away in one swing and the blue sparks that came from it lit the night.

"You must resort to projectile weapons? Zerah, you disappoint me!" his voice stormed from inside. He never lost pace. He steadily and casually walked toward her. Each step left prints in the ground about an inch deep. She fired a second time and he caught it with the khopis. She fired a third and a fourth, but he swatted those away like annoying flies. "I'm sensing fear, Zerah." Macabre taunted from his mobile tomb, "Are you afraid!"

Zerah performed a single cartwheel toward her falchion and with her deft hands, she retained it before her feet finished the acrobatic stunt. "No more than I fear death!" she said in a fighting stance, "And I'm not afraid to die!" She leapt toward him with the sword leading. It clanged as it dug into the polished plating on his shoulder. Macabre grabbed her by her neck with his left hand and put the sword to her back with her right. She winced as she realized she was powerless as he held her above the ground.

"I'm worse than death!" he proclaimed into her ear. He let go of her neck and launched her from him with the sword. The blade tore open her skin and sent her through the air from his powerful strength. She collided with the ground and lay motionless for a bit. Zerah moaned as she beheld her wounds: a deep gash into her right arm and a long trench of a cut on her back. Blood was eager to flow from both and dripped like a leaky faucet into the dirt. She reeled in pain on the ground, holding her injuries before the large, metallic man.

"I'm the Dance of Death!" he professed to her. He stood there, in complete stillness. Not a muscle twitched. "I have others to deal with. You can live," he said like a judge, "for now." With that, he turned and began walking off until he disappeared into the darkness. Not a glimpse of reflected light was seen. He simply wasn't there any longer. Zerah still laid on the ground in pain and breathing heavily, trying to suppress her bodily torment.

"I'll be ready for you!" she spoke into the night, "I promise you on my father's grave I'll win next time!"


	2. Chapter 2 Stith

**Chapter 2 - Stith**

A loud crack rang out over the billowing fields of New Earth. It echoed clear and long like a thunderclap. The sky was serene and thick; a heavy, grayish mist hovered over the long stalks of grass that had grown in the past decade.

A lone Mantrin woman stood in the field holding a long rifle. It had a slender, wooden stock and a black muzzle; so black that no light reflected off of it. She focused through a holographic scope that was displayed from the top of the rifle. One couldn't see it from the side, but from behind it showed wind resistance, distance, and the composition of the space between the gun and the target.

The Mantrin was still; so still a bird or a squirrel could have sat on her and they would have never noticed the alien woman steadily aiming her rifle. Her breathing was extremely controlled, her muscles all poised, ready for the strike. She was hunting her prey: a small rock, no bigger than an eyeball, sitting on a fencepost two hundred yards away. Finally, when all her calculations were made and all of her estimates weighed the fulfillment came.

She pulled the trigger.

A thin, green blast ripped over the field and zinged by the rock in less than half a second. "Oh, great!" Stith exclaimed as she threw her plasma sniper rifle to the ground. She stammered with her massive feet and struck an invisible object with her fists. "I miss. I can't believe it: _I miss_!" Her raspy voice called over the hills. She then collected the rifle off of the ground carefully like one might pick up a child and dusted it off.

The rock sat quite peacefully on the fencepost. Out of the mist, Stith came walking up to it and scoffed at the thing which had managed to dodge her shot, or so she was convinced. She picked up the rock and studied it intently. A thin, black dash on one side of the rock was enough for her ego to not sink. She hadn't quite hit the stone, but had rather knicked it. She tossed it up once and caught it before the Mantrin threw it like a baseball off into the distance. Better for it to lie out in the fields where it couldn't mock her aim to her face.

Stith flung the door to her house open and it hit the inside wall. The room was dark and empty. She walked in and set her rifle on a table. There were streams of silver light streaming in from one side of the room where there was a large window separated by frames that went around the wall in a semicircular fashion. It featured an area where the floor was lowered and steps led down to it. In front of the window, down in this area, were several chairs with tables that had been put in afterward. Stith liked to entertain guests in this area since it had a clear view of the ocean from the large window. It used to be the bridge of a massive starcruiser that was cut up and divvyed amongst the people in Houston. She often had her friend, Akima, and Akima's husband and children over. The adults sat and talked while the children ran around. They often talked of their experiences growing up in space and reminiscing of their exodus to the Titan and the New Earth.

She lumbered over to a chest and pulled out an odd instrument. Stith picked up the rifle and applied the instrument to it which produced a line that was only slightly crooked. "A Ha!" she exclaimed, "I knew it! There was no way I would have missed it!" The calibration on the holo-scope needed to be realigned, but she had neither the time nor the patience to recalibrate it. She set both down and lumbered around her house. Stith walked down a corridor where she had several pictures of friends; mainly of Akima. There was one picture of Akima wearing a chef's hat and apron. She had a frying pan which she held up triumphantly as she stood behind a stove. There were all sorts of dead, alien food hanging on racks behind her. Akima was 18 in the photograph.

Stith scuffled about in her room which was an old captain's quarters. It still had a finely crafted, cherry-colored desk with a holographic map of several galaxies that didn't work any more. Stith went around near her bed and found a large, brown coat which she put on one arm swung the other sleeve around as well. She straightened the coat, brushed her nose, and was out the door.

Outside Stith slung a backpack on and walked toward a hovercraft which looked like a tractor, but was only the size of a pick up truck. Loads of weapons were stacked in barrels according to their sizes in the flatbed of the hovercraft. She had handguns, machineguns, rifles, and shotguns, all plasma of course, which she would sell to anyone who needed them. Stith wasn't necessarily an arms dealer. The colony's laws still forbade murder, and nobody dared to even try since everyone had a gun. If a person were to fire on another person, the common townsfolk would have vaporized them in nothing flat, literally. These weapons were meant for hunting and self protection. There was a makeshift government in place, but people still followed common law. They also kept their weapons close by in case any more aliens with a genocidal agenda showed up. Stith started the ignition and the craft made a low humming noise until it began to lift off of the ground. The surrounding grass blew in all directions like a helicopter was taking off. With a step of the pedal, the craft flew away in to town.

"Well, that should do it," Cale said as he slammed the hood of a hovercraft shut, "You can go around to the clerk to pay. Take this." He said as he ripped an invoice sheet off of a clipboard and handed it to the man. He gave a polite 'Thank you' and headed up to the clerk like Cale had told him. Cale had started an automotive repair shop which had become immensely popular. He used to come home late on nights with all of the repairs he had to make until Akima convinced him to hire more help. Cale's publicity was the main reason for the business' success. People would travel from all around the world just to have a vehicle repaired by him. Cale used the address of his business to allow people to find him. Otherwise, they would always be knocking on the door to his home, the Phoenix. Some just came to meet 'the savior of humanity' as they called him. Cale would always respond that "Even the savior of humanity needs to make a living." He ran the business out of the cargo hold of an old spacecraft that had been cut up to be used as a building.

Cale was tired from the day of work. There was a light fog that blotted out the sun, but all of the grease and heavy machinery is enough to wipe a person out. His tattoo seemed larger on his arm since the skin had stretched to allow the new muscle to form underneath it. His lower back ached from the entire day's work. He was ready to go home. Cale had been doing this since shortly after he arrived back from his battle with the Drej. A bartering system was used before, but since the new currency had taken effect, it caused everyone to have to work. Not that he minded it much since it kept him busy. He had to have something to preoccupy himself after all of his adventures. He was also making such a killing with his new business that he didn't really have to work, but he didn't want to sit behind a desk all day. He could hire someone to do that.

Cale threw down an old rag to a bench as he walked in to the main offices of the building. He joked with employees and greeted some customers as he walked by the front counter where he had three secretaries and two people to handle files. Eventually, Cale made his way into his office which was made from the landing tower of the hangar. It still had some of the docking controls in it, but none of them worked. He sat at his desk and gave a long sigh. It was just another day at the office. He looked up to see that the clock on his desk read 4:55pm. It was five minutes to closing time, but he thought it was close enough. Cale shuffled some papers around and ordered everything he wanted it to be for Monday. He snuck out and made his way out the front door. Plenty of people had seen him, but he pretended that he was invisible anyway. He walked away from the old hangar bay and strode down a dusty path that led into the heart of Houston.

The walk wasn't very far at all. It was only a mile or so, but Cale like to walk it nevertheless. He liked to go through town and see everything there was to see. The town was a hodge-podge, circuitous group of parked spacecrafts. Some were large, but most were small, personal craft. They still used bits and pieces of these ships because the trees hadn't grown to a size where they were ready to be cut down for housing. He went by the city hall which was little more than a galley that was converted into a meeting space. All of the pieces of spaceships created a low and very jagged skyline that stretched along the hills like a set of teeth. The air was low and foggy. If it wasn't foggy it was typically rainy since more and more condensation had been flowing in to the deep canyons and crevices that would hopefully become oceans. The fog created a milky aura as lights pierced through it and made the lights look as though they were far off distant stars. He approached an area which was unofficially designated as the market. There were booths for anything you could think of. There were always men shouting out their most recent catches from the lakes and women who quietly worked on their sewing, all of which they could sell. It was a type of bazaar where anybody could set up their own area whenever they wanted however they wanted; just so long as you didn't block someone else out. The streets were littered with people who were just milling around. Many were on their way home from work and swung through the market only to pick up a few things on their way home. Children skipped alongside parents and grandparents. Fathers had their young ones riding piggy-back. Their clothes all an assortment of brown jackets and khaki pants; straw hats and leather shoes.

He saw a Mantrin woman sitting behind a table at her booth. She was large, maybe eight or nine feet tall with huge legs that looked very similar to those of a kangaroo only she had two sets of knees. Her face was like a cross between a horse and a bird and she had a long, sturdy tail. She sat in a brown cloak that draped over her sides and made her look all the more large. Her booth had strings of Christmas lights hanging from a ceiling which was a tent that came from her hovercraft which was behind her. She had all assortments of weapons stacked out in front on racks and sitting on display. A man was walking away with a rifle after having paid the Mantrin.

"Hey, Stith!" Cale said as he approached her weapons booth, "How's things goin' with my favorite Mantrin?" He propped himself up on her desk by his elbows.

"Not much," she replied

"Yeah, me neither," Cale replied, as if he got exactly what he was searching for out of Stith.

"Say, Cale, you want to come over later and watch the game?" the Mantrin asked.

"Sounds like a plan," Akima interjected. She had snuck up on the two and was kind of surprised that it worked with Joey and Ruth in tow. "Hey, Stith," she said. Akima had a basket hooked on her left arm.

"Akima, dear, how are you?" Cale said before he gave her a light kiss on the cheek.

"I got kind of tired sitting around at home so I took the kids to the market." Joey and Ruth each hugged one of Cale's legs like they were some sort of parasite. Cale looked away from Akima and gave fun roar as he swooped down to his children.

"Look at these two bad kids!" he said as he picked them both up and threw them over each of his shoulders like they were a sack of potatoes. Their legs dangled on his chest and he kept a firm grasp over each of their backs.

"Let me go!" Joey said as he lightly pounded his fist on Cale's hard back. Ruth only giggled like she was on some carousel.

"What's in the bag?" Cale asked Akima after he stood up.

"Dinner," she replied.

"What kind?"

"Food," she taunted.

"Okay. What kind of food?" Cale continued.

"Fish,"

"Salmon?"

Akima nodded.

"You guys can go ahead and come over after dinner," Stith interjected, "I plan on staying here a little while longer."

"How are you, Stith?" Akima asked.

"Just fine. You?"

"Not bad. I went down to the beach today and let Joey and Ruth look for seashells."

"I found a pink one!" Ruth exclaimed from Cale's back as she triumphantly held up a pinkish conch shell.

"Are there already sea shells?" Stith asked, surprised.

"They've been washing up recently. The oceans must be thriving with life by now," Akima told.

"I bet there'll be birds all over the sky before you know it," Cale said.

"I know. It's exciting isn't it?" Akima asked, her eyes filled with wonder.

They continued on like that for another few minutes, but felt it was best to save all of the topics for later that evening.

"See you around, Stith," Cale said.

"Later," Akima added.

They both walked away. Joey and Ruth were still over Cale's shoulders. "Bye," they said in unison as they waved. Stith waved back. She envied Akima greatly, but then felt guilty for it. She had wanted a family herself, but there were too few Mantrins on New Earth.

Cale set his children down and they all walked together back toward their home. When the Phoenix came into view over the hill, Joey and Ruth took off running. "Here I come," Cale said as he shot from Akima's side and raced after the two children. Akima smiled to herself as she watched her goon of a husband chase the runts down the hill and then back up the hill that the Phoenix rested on. She calmly walked the distance, taking in the view of the newly developing ocean to the west of her home. The water was a clear, unpolluted gray, just like the sky. Off in the distance, the ocean turned into a ribbon of black at the horizon. She carried the fish in her basket up the hill and greeted her family on the steps of the Phoenix.

Stith finally made her way home at the end of a long day. She was weary from the passage of time and tearing down her shop. She tiredly flung the door open and let a large backpack full of weapons drop down to the floor. She made her way to a kitchen she'd set up opposite from the observation deck in her house. Stith opened a can of beef stew, poured it in a pot and turned on the stove. She set the pot on the stove and the rest was automatic; all she had to do was to wait. _This is the 31st century_, she thought, _why does it take so long to make a pot of stew?_ The Mantrin made her way over to her couch and slumped down, sending dust flying everywhere. Suddenly, she had this strange feeling. One like she was being watched. She told herself it was nothing; just one of the side effects from living alone, but the feeling was still there.

A black shadow hushed behind her. She sat up. Quiet. Stillness. There was nothing. She looked around behind her only to realize that she had been sitting by herself imagining shapes that just skirted her vision. A little unsettled, she managed to turn around and rest her head on the couch. She kept a firearm on her belt and now she was glad that she had. Nothing could hurt her with a plasma gun and her bull's eye shooting on her side.

"Stith," a quiet, deep voice called from somewhere in the room. Her eyes widened. She jumped up again, this time flinging her gun out and pointed it blindly around the room.

"Okay, who is it, _scumbag_?"she asked, annoyed now that she knew her mind wasn't playing tricks. At least she hoped it wasn't. She stood up and hunted the room with her eyes, searching for some sort of infiltrator, but no one was there. After there was no sound, no answer, she felt safe again except for the fact that she was going insane. She lowered her weapon and breathed a sigh of relief. Her heart was still quickly clawing its way through her chest. Its beat became deafening; she could hear it in her ears. A low swishing was all that it was. She lumbered back over to her couch, eagerly awaiting the stew to be done when she saw another shape fly across the room and hit her against the wall. There was no sound except the loud thud of the Mantrin hitting the wall. Stith was in severe pain, but she didn't know why. Her legs fell limp, but she was still held in the air. She grabbed at her midsection and realized that it was warm and wet. There was another thing though. Something long and thick like a tent pole coming from her. She felt it and realized that she had been impaled by a spear which had stuck her to the wall. No screams came from her though. She just tried to pull it out.

A black mass suddenly manifested itself in the room. It was large and square; large enough to see eye to eye with a Mantrin. Stith panicked as she saw a silvery blade emerge from the mass which was sliding toward her. Her heart was in her throat now like it was trying to escape out of her neck. She desperately reached for her gun and pointed it in the shadow's direction. A gleam of silver, a swish, and the gun was gone. Another gleam, another swish, and the room went black.


	3. Chapter 3 Lament

**Chapter 3 – Lament**

Joey and Ruth went running over the green fields toward Stith's house. The last streaks of sunlight were burning their way into the horizon as the sky was a brilliant, incandescent pink. The children huffed and puffed with each short step they took with Ruth clearly smoking Joey behind her. Joey always hated that a girl could run faster than him; he swore there would be a day when that would change. Granted, the boy was her little brother and Ruth had longer legs, but still: it was a _girl_. Their hair bounced and swayed while the children neared Stith's home.

Cale and Akima slowly walked behind them, keeping the two in their sight. They didn't want to ruin Stith's surprise when the children went ahead and sneak attacked her with hugs like they always did.

"Do you think Stith's okay?" Akima asked.

"What do you mean?" Cale responded.

"I don't know; it just seems like she's been so sad lately."

"Do you want to ask her about it?"

"Well, yeah I would, but—."

"—But—you don't think tonight's the right time to bring it up," Cale finished for her.

"Don't worry; I'll talk to her sometime."

The children finally reached the door, which was open, and started shouting for Stith, "Hey, Aunt Stith, we're here! Stith! Where are you?" The two ran into the dark house through the open door. Cale and Akima watched them go into the darkness and waited for an array of childish noises.

But none came…

A shrill and faint noise rang out from the Mantrin's house: the scream of a little girl. Cale and Akima exchanged worried glances, "Is that Ruth?" he asked.

"Sounded like—" Akima didn't get to finish her sentence when Cale burst into an all out sprint. Akima trailed and ran as fast as she could, but Cale reached the door long before she did. He bounded into the door, grabbing onto the frame, and swung himself into the house. He found Ruth and Joey standing in her living room crying the only way children know how. He rushed up to Ruth and gently held her upper arms.

"What's wrong?" he asked, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw the answer: there was a dead, female Mantrin on the floor. Akima came rushing in and saw the dead alien immediately. She crashed down on her knees and wailed. It was a coarse and whispy cry that quivered as she trembled. "Akima, I need you to take the kids outside," Cale said, but she didn't answer. Akima scuttled across the floor and began to touch the lifeless face of her dear friend. The Mantrin's fur was cold and stiff; there was no warmth in the body any more. "Come on," Cale said as he collected the kids and took them out in front of the door, "I need you to stay here, okay?"

"'Kay," Joey answered, his voice trembling. He barely managed to get out the words through the tears. Cale smiled at the two and raced back inside. He found Akima with Stith's head in her lap. His wife was still wet with tears. He cautiously approached her like a scavenger approaches a carcass.

"Akima?" he softly asked. She didn't say a word. Akima sniffed and wiped her face with her sleeve then stopped to try and contain herself.

"She was murdered," Akima replied. Cale looked at the body: the Mantrin had been pierced through the midsection. Her entrails had slowly pushed their way out and spread themselves on the floor. Both of the Mantrin's hands had been severed at the wrists and Cale found the two hands to the side. They were still clutching a plasma gun. Her neck had been slit in such a way that her spine barely kept her head on. The Mantrin's tongue, now black and empty of blood, hung over the side of her teeth. It was difficult to imagine that this was Stith. One who had always been so strong and courageous was now a butchered hunk of bloodless flesh.

Cale knelt beside her. His pants soaked up the blood that was pooled on the floor. Akima was covered in blood. He really didn't know what to say. What was there to talk about that would be of some comfort? He tried to hold back his own tears; he needed to be strong now for Akima. He was her anchorage through this tribulation. He had to be.

"Akima?" he asked.

"What?" she dully replied.

"I'm going to go outside for a second; only for a second," he said trying to stifle his own tears, "Okay?"

"Yeah," she weakly replied.

"Akima," he said, his hands clenching hers, his eyes searching for hers, "I'm here; I'm going to do all I can. Akima? We're gonna make it through this, right?" he asked, trying to encourage her.

"Yeah," she weakly replied again.

"Right," he responded, the tears spilling over his eyes, "right."

Cale shot out through the door and out into the deep blue sky outside. The sun was gone. Ruth and Joey sat together on little crates which served as their chairs while they visited. Cale could still hear them sniffling and snorting their tears away. He let out a loud sigh, trying to erase what he had just seen out of his mind. He blinked several times and streams of water came from his eyes. He caught himself though and wiped them away immediately. Cale breathed heavily, gasping for breath. He found a spot in the sky to stare at and brought his wristwatch close. After pushing a series of buttons, a hologram of a red cross appeared.

"Emergency services, how may I help you?" a woman's voice came over the speaker.

Cale calmed himself down and searched for words, "Yeah, there's been a murder," was all he could say.

Inside, Akima traced the face of her dead friend with her fingers. She caressed every feature of the Mantrin's lifeless face. Akima's heart felt like it was being pulled out of her back. She grasped her chest and clenched the shirt. Her heart was pounding. Akima started to cry again. She put her bloody hand over her face and sobbed quietly into it. Never in her wildest dreams would this happen. All of the death and pain was left out in space back when they didn't have a planet; why was this happening now? Who would want her dead? That last thought caused Akima to look around the room; it wasn't toppled or disheveled in any way. Whoever did this knew what they were doing. They didn't take anything but Stith's life. This wasn't a common criminal; this was someone who intentionally mutilated the poor Mantrin. But who?

The next morning was still. Cale and Akima lay in bed facing opposite directions. Sunlight crept into his eyes and he reluctantly opened at its bidding. He sat up and turned to look at Akima. Her naked back slowly raised and lowered in a steady and quiet motion. She had the white sheets tucked under her arm and her hair was a messy collection of purple and black. The room was bright and the light made it glow a bright tan. He turned and put his feet on the floor where he grabbed some white, cotton pants and pulled them up. Cale stood and made his way over to the window and looked into the horizon. The ocean was clear and glistening; an inviting image after what they'd been through. He sighed and rested his head and his forearm against the glass. Outside stretched a paradise, but that paradise couldn't save them from what happened.

Akima had been awake the whole time. In fact, she'd been awake most of the night with the inexorable bout of sleep here and there. She always woke from the same nightmare each time: a dark, gory pit of flesh that she was submerged in up to her neck. Chopped body parts filled the pit and came alive, grasping at her and sending her deeper in until she was under their writhing mass and she drowned in the blood. The images would go away each time she would open her eyes so she resolved to keep them open. Akima rolled over and saw Cale standing quietly at the window. Cale heard her but didn't turn to look; he kept staring out the window. "Couldn't sleep?" he quietly asked.

"No," she answered lifelessly, "Could you?"

"You kept me awake," Cale replied, "I don't think it would've made much of a difference anyway."

Akima propped herself up on one elbow. The sheets followed the curves of her breasts before they draped down to the bed. Last night was a rare occasion when they hadn't been used. In fact, neither Cale nor Akima had said a word to each other during the night. Akima was pale. She wasn't so much tired as she was fatigued. Her heart still felt hollow; like it couldn't stand to release one more pump. Her eyes searched the floor while she thought of something to say. She found some words that she'd said a million times before, but they felt awkward in this moment. She had to let them out.

"Cale?" she asked, getting his attention.

"Yeah?" he asked while turning to her.

"I love you," she said, "If anything ever happens, I want you to know,"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Cale said as he rushed to the bed and sat down next to her. "I know," he hushed, "but let's not think about that. You know I could never deal with it."


	4. Chapter 4 Zerah

**Chapter 4 – Zerah**

Akima curled up next to the window. She was dressed in only a long sleeve shirt and some underwear. Evening light was coming and painted the sky a noisy orange. The day had been dull and lifeless; the same way her friend now was. Akima held in her hand a picture. It was very similar to the one that Stith had of Akima in the kitchens only this time Stith was in the shot. She held it close to her face, studying the every form that made Stith in it. The Mantrin's smile was so large as she hugged her petite, human friend. Akima almost couldn't look at it. Her face was still moist with tears. She watched her family outside. The children sat in a makeshift sandbox and were busy pushing little figures about. Cale was outside with them since no one felt safe alone anymore. He was chopping at some wood with an axe very similar to how his ancestors had millennia ago. Plasma saws weren't easy to come by yet so they had to resort to the old fashioned lifestyle. The wood was for a stove that he had built for Akima out of some spare vehicle parts. They had plenty of firewood, but Cale wanted to chop to keep his mind off of it all. Akima watched them like they were figures in a television; imagining what it would be like if they weren't really around. She wondered what it would be like to be all alone, the way Stith was. She exhaled and told herself to forget she'd ever thought about it.

Clop! Cale's axe dug into the chopping block. Two halves of wood were rolling around on either side of him. He was weary and wondered to himself why he was cutting wood. Joey turned around and saw him wipe his brow with his forearm. Ruth kept her focus in the sand. "Daddy," Joey began.

Cale collected the pieces of wood and tossed them aside, "Yeah?"

"Did Stith go to heaven?" Joey asked. Cale froze and looked at him.

"I'm sure she did," he replied.

"If I die, will I see Stith again?" Joey asked.

Cale's eyes darted about. _What do I tell him?_ "What do you think?" Cale asked, picking up another block of wood.

"I don't know," Joey said, "do you think Stith is watching us right now?"

Cale stopped again. There was a comforting idea for a child: living under the watchful eye of an ethereal friend. "I'm sure she is," Cale responded, trying to sound as consoling as possible. He didn't want his children having their minds preoccupied with death, but what could he do? It had affected them in a way that was going to take a while before their lives could mend.

A woman dressed in a long, brown coat approached the Phoenix. Her face signified that she was in great pain, yet she stood straighter than a soldier fresh from boot camp. Cale hadn't seen her before, but the fact that she was able to get this close without anyone noticing was a little disconcerting. He clenched his axe and began to approach her. This signaled the woman whose hair was tightly pulled into a pony tail to begin speaking, "I heard about the Mantrin," she began. Cale's countenance widened. He wasn't expecting to hear this. First the woman was able to sneak up on them and now she knew that Stith was killed. Something did not add up. He tightened his grip on the axe, prepared to use it if necessary. "You have to listen to me; you're in grave danger," she continued.

"Who are you and how do you know about Stith?" Cale said as his eyes narrowed. She continued to approach in a steady and controlled manner.

"My name is Zerah and I'm here to warn you. Please, you must trust me, for your sake and the sake of your family," she replied, "I know who killed the Mantrin." Cale was still. Like a duck on a pond, he was pensively churning his mind beneath the surface. _Who is this woman? How does she know me?_ There was a slamming sound coming from behind. He turned to find the source and saw that Akima came rushing out of the door to the Phoenix. She quickly told the children to go inside and hurried up beside Cale.

"What's going on?" she asked as she stopped next to Cale. Akima took a long look at Zerah and knew that something wasn't right.

"Why are we in danger?" Cale asked.

"The Mantrin was murdered by someone named Macabre," Zerah replied, "and I have reason to believe that he's going to come looking for you."

"Macabre?" Akima asked, "What does he want with us?"

"I don't know why, but he's out to kill you to. Do you have any guesses as to why?" Zerah responded.

"We don't know anybody by that name," Cale said.

"And the Mantrin didn't know anyone by that name either?" Zerah asked.

"I don't think so," Akima replied. At least, she didn't remember Stith ever mentioning that name.

"Hmm, well, you're lucky he hasn't come to you by now, but enough time has been wasted; you will die if you stay here any longer," Zerah told, "He was very interested in the crash site of the Valkyrie."

"What was he after?" Cale asked.

"I don't know, but he must have been looking for Korso," she replied, "I don't know if he intended to kill Stith and Gune from the start—"

"Gune? Gune's dead too!" Akima looked terrified and distressed.

"Yes, I'm sorry; I figured you knew," she replied, "Anyway, you understand how grave the situation is. We must leave immediately. Can your ship fly?"

"No, she can't" Cale said as he turned and glanced back at the Phoenix, "not without some work done, at least."

"We don't have time for that," Zerah returned as she winced with pain.

"Are you okay?" Cale asked, his eyebrows were raised with concern.

"I was—" she replied while taking her coat off. Blood trickled down her hip.

"Come inside and we'll take a look at that," Akima suggested.

"No, we should be leaving now," Zerah hesitated.

"You can't go on like that," Akima responded.

"Haven't you heard anything I've said? Macabre killed Stith and Gune and he intends to kill the both of you," Zerah warned, "Don't think that he won't target your children. For their sakes, we must go to the Valkyrie crash site and see if we can get any leads."

"Fine," Akima said, "but not until we get you bandaged. If this Macabre guy is as bad as you say he is, I'm certain we're seriously going to need your help." Zerah worriedly looked over her shoulder. Her eyes darted around the horizon, searching for a shadowy stalker. She found none.

"All right," she compromised, "but we must be quick. Take only what you need to survive."


End file.
